Design and Development of a Smart Fidget Toy Using Blockchain Technology to Improve Health Data Control.

This study explores the integration of blockchain technology in wearable health devices through the design and development of a Smart Fidget Toy. We aimed to investigate design challenges and opportunities of blockchain-based health devices, examine the impact of blockchain integration user experience, and assess its potential to improve data control and user trust. Using an iterative user-centered design approach, we developed a mid-fidelity prototype of a physical fidget device with a blockchain-based web application.

Gender disparities in observed motorcycle helmet use in Madagascar: female motorcyclists behave safer but have lower overall protection.

Background: Although motorcycle helmets can save lives in case of a crash, no helmet use data are available for many countries. When data is available, it is often only analysed as a global average, preventing targeted road safety education and legislative action. In this study, we conducted a detailed analysis of motorcycle helmet use in the capital of Madagascar.

Comparison of different mobile health applications for intervention in children and adolescent with overweight: a protocol for systematic review with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis.

Introduction: Overweight in children is increasing worldwide. Innovative smartphone health applications (mHealth apps) have either sought to deliver single or multi-component interventions for the management of overweight in children. However, the clinical effects of these apps are poorly explored.

Health apps targeting children with overweight-a protocol for a systematic review with meta-analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis of randomised clinical trials.

Background: The prevalence of overweight is increasing worldwide in children. Multi-component interventions incorporating diet, physical activity, and behavioural change have been shown to reduce body mass index (BMI). Whilst many children have their own smartphone, the clinical effects of using smartphone applications (apps) for overweight are unknown.

Patterns of motorcycle helmet use - A naturalistic observation study in Myanmar.

Developing countries are subject to increased motorization, particularly in the number of motorcycles. As helmet use is critical to the safety of motorcycle riders, the goal of this study was to identify observable patterns of helmet use, which allow a more accurate assessment of helmet use in developing countries. In a video based observation study, 124,784 motorcycle riders were observed at seven observation sites throughout Myanmar.

A Smart Wearable Sensor System for Counter-Fighting Overweight in Teenagers.

PEGASO is a FP7-funded project whose goal is to develop an ICT and mobile-based platform together with an appropriate strategy to tackle the diffusion of obesity and other lifestyle-related illnesses among teenagers. Indeed, the design of an engaging strategy, leveraging a complementary set of technologies, is the approach proposed by the project to promote the adoption of healthy habits such as active lifestyle and balanced nutrition and to effectively counter-fight the emergence of overweight and obesity in the younger population. A technological key element of such a strategy sees the adoption of wearable sensors to monitor teenagers' activities, which is at the basis of developing awareness about the current lifestyle.

Defining Requirements and Related Methods for Designing Sensorized Garments.

Designing smart garments has strong interdisciplinary implications, specifically related to user and technical requirements, but also because of the very different applications they have: medicine, sport and fitness, lifestyle monitoring, workplace and job conditions analysis, etc. This paper aims to discuss some user, textile, and technical issues to be faced in sensorized clothes development. In relation to the user, the main requirements are anthropometric, gender-related, and aesthetical.

Developmental Dyslexia With and Without Language Impairment: ERPs Reveal Qualitative Differences in Morphosyntactic Processing.

This study aimed to characterize neuropsychological and linguistic skills in children with Developmental Dyslexia (DD) with and without Language Impairment (LI). Behavioral tests of short-term memory, phonemic awareness, and morphosyntactic processing and electrophysiological responses to agreement violations were administered to 32 DD children (16 with additional LI) and 16 controls. Behavioral data revealed quantitative differences among groups: DD+LI children showed the worst performance, followed by DD-only children and controls.

Use of Machine Learning to Identify Children with Autism and Their Motor Abnormalities.

In the present work, we have undertaken a proof-of-concept study to determine whether a simple upper-limb movement could be useful to accurately classify low-functioning children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) aged 2-4. To answer this question, we developed a supervised machine-learning method to correctly discriminate 15 preschool children with ASD from 15 typically developing children by means of kinematic analysis of a simple reach-to-drop task. Our method reached a maximum classification accuracy of 96.

Long-term sympathoinhibitory effects of surgically induced weight loss in severe obese patients.

Weight loss improves insulin sensitivity and exerts sympathomodulatory effects. No data, however, are available on the effects of the weight loss induced by vertical sleeve gastrectomy on sympathetic neural drive, insulin sensitivity, and their reciprocal cross talks. In 10 severe obese hypertensives (age, 54.

Assessment of lower limb prosthesis through wearable sensors and thermography.

This study aimed to explore the application of infrared thermography in combination with ambulatory wearable monitoring of temperature and relative humidity, to assess the residual limb-to-liner interface in lower-limb prosthesis users. Five male traumatic transtibial amputees were involved, who reported no problems or discomfort while wearing the prosthesis. A thermal imaging camera was used to measure superficial thermal distribution maps of the stump.

Wearable monitoring devices for assistive technology: case studies in post-polio syndrome.

The correct choice and customization of an orthosis are crucial to obtain the best comfort and efficiency. This study explored the feasibility of a multivariate quantitative assessment of the functional efficiency of lower limb orthosis through a novel wearable system. Gait basographic parameters and energetic indexes were analysed during a Six-Minute Walking Test (6-MWT) through a cost-effective, non-invasive polygraph device, with a multichannel wireless transmission, that carried out electro-cardiograph (ECG); impedance-cardiograph (ICG); and lower-limb accelerations detection.

Sport monitoring with smart wearable system.

This work presents a new system for sport monitoring. The system was composed of a t-shirt with two textile electrodes and two devices for the acquisition, storage, processing and visualization of the signals. The systems allows monitoring both ECG signal (raw and processed heart-rate) and 3 axial acceleration (raw and step counter).

Wearable monitoring systems in pre-term newborns care.

In the last decade, the trends in the development and management of healthcare services are focused on the personalization of prevention, diagnosis and treatment. This paper presents an example of the development of wearable technology for biosignal monitoring in the field of pre-term newborns care. The system was validated by an in-hospital pre-clinical test demonstrating efficiency, reliability and quality.

Eye-hand coordination in children with high functioning autism and Asperger's disorder using a gap-overlap paradigm.

We investigated eye-hand coordination in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in comparison with age-matched normally developing peers. The eye-hand correlation was measured by putting fixation latencies in relation with pointing and key pressing responses in visual detection tasks where a gap-overlap paradigm was used and compared to fixation latencies in absence of manual response. ASD patients showed less efficient eye-hand coordination, which was particularly evident when pointing towards a target was being fixated.

Further evidence of complex motor dysfunction in drug naive children with autism using automatic motion analysis of gait.

In order to increase the knowledge of locomotor disturbances in children with autism, and of the mechanism underlying them, the objective of this exploratory study was to reliably and quantitatively evaluate linear gait parameters (spatio-temporal and kinematic parameters), upper body kinematic parameters, walk orientation and smoothness using an automatic motion analyser (ELITE systems) in drug naïve children with Autistic Disorder (AD) and healthy controls. The children with AD showed a stiffer gait in which the usual fluidity of walking was lost, trunk postural abnormalities, highly significant difficulties to maintain a straight line and a marked loss of smoothness (increase of jerk index), compared to the healthy controls. As a whole, these data suggest a complex motor dysfunction involving both the cortical and the subcortical area or, maybe, a possible deficit in the integration of sensory-motor information within motor networks (i.

Reach and throw movement analysis with support vector machines in early diagnosis of autism.

Movement disturbances play an intrinsic part in autism. Upper limb movements like reach-and-throw seem to be helpful in early identification of children affected by autism. Nevertheless few works investigate the application of classifying methods to upper limb movements.

Entropy analysis on EEG signal in a case study of focal myoclonus.

Electrophysiological studies provide useful information for diagnosis and classification of myoclonus, and for the investigation of its generative mechanisms, due to association of myoclonus with abnormally increased excitability of cortical structures. In this work we analyzed the polygraphic data of a 7-year old girl affected by continuous partial epilepsy with focal myoclonus both related and not related with epileptiform discharges on EEG. We applied Sample Entropy (SampEn) and Lempel-Ziv complexity (LZ) methods to investigate the regularity and complexity content of EEG recordings and to find possible analogies in the behaviour of non-parametric complexity measures in epilepsy and in myoclonus.

[Prospective study of laparoscopic treatment of incisional hernia by means of the use of composite mesh: indications, complications, mesh fixation materials and results].

The aim of this study was to establish the indications, safety, efficacy, feasibility and reproducibility of laparoscopic techniques in the treatment of abdominal wall defects, even of the larger kind, in order to standardise procedures and confirm the performance of the composite mesh used (Parietex, Sofradim, Trevoux, France). From January 2001 to December 2004, 185 non-selected patients (109 females, 76 males), with a mean age of 56 years (range: 26-77) and a mean BMI of 30 (range: 26-40) were included in the study; 162 patients (87.5%) had incisional hernias and 23 patients (12.

[Laparoscopic liver resection using a radiofrequency dissector. Initial experience].

Laparoscopic liver surgery, especially when resective, requires both the skill of an expert laparoscopist and the experience of a liver surgeon. The aims of the study were to assess the feasibility of minor laparoscopic liver resection by means of a radiofrequency dissector and to evaluate the laparoscopic approach. From January 1993 to November 2002 we carried out 7 laparoscopic liver resections (3 men, 4 women), 5 of which for benign diseases and 2 for metastases from colorectal cancer.